Afghan security officials inspect an Afghan Army helicopter that crashed in Paroon district of eastern Nuristan province. Afghan Army helicopter crashed and injured nine soldiers in Parun district when it was carrying reinforcement after hundreds of insurgents attacked a police base in same area on 10 May, sparking a fierce battle, officials said.

Pictures in the News | May 11, 2011

We begin Wednesday’s Pictures in the News feature in Greece, where demonstrators clashed with police in central Athens during a general strike in protest against austerity measures intended to keep the debt-ridden country solvent.

Elsewhere, the stars are out in France as the 64th Cannes Film Festival is underway; a funeral procession for legendary Spanish golfer Seve Ballesteros is held in Pedrena; and the surf is up on the west coast of South Africa as cold fronts generate large swells.

In the news, students and riot police squared off in Algiers as protesters took to the streets demanding political change; in Yeman, a spent bullet case is filled with roses during a demonstration demanding the ouster of President Ali Abdullah Saleh in the southern city of Taiz; and Afghan security officials inspect an Afghan army helicopter that crashed in Paroon.